Page 15 of Cocky Tech God
I woke up before the alarm went off. It was early, just after six. Hansen still slept on the makeshift bed. Poor bastard. The floor couldn’t have been comfortable. I wasn’t trying to punish him. I was making a point.
I was in control, and we both needed to remember it.
After I’d gotten ready, I gazed at him. His thick arm was over his face and his gorgeous legs were splayed. The sheet had bundled under him, wrapped around his thighs. He was a specimen. Honestly, perfect looking. Shaped with masculine beauty and the cockiness to acknowledge it, and with the confidence to know everyone else did too. It was in everything he did. Especially in how he kissed.
How he kissed…
I lifted my fingers to my lips. I could almost still feel him. I shook my head. God help the woman who really falls for him.
I spun on my flats toward the door. I’d showered and dressed for the first official day of the conference. Down in the lobby restaurant, I stirred my coffee after I found an empty table, which was no easy feat. I glanced at the conference-supplied continental breakfast buffet, but I couldn’t eat a thing.
An email notification made my cell phone vibrate. It was Mia checking in as I’d asked her to.
In reading her email of basic business items, I got dizzy and warm. Maybe I should get a bite. When had I eaten last? My mind rewound through my morning and night… There among my memories was the kiss with Hansen. The games we played with each other. And I paused on it, playing over and over his hands running under my shirt. Over my stomach. Pinching my nipples.
A jolt brought me back to the hotel. I stood in front of the long tables of packaged items and grabbed a granola bar. This would tide me over. And so would fresh air. So, I slung my messenger bag over my shoulder and walked through the lobby, clutching my meager breakfast.
I recognized some faces from other conferences and workshops I’d attended back in the U.S. The tech world was quite small, which was another reason why Hansen and I needed to be closed-lipped about the room debacle. I didn’t need the gossip. As far as I knew, no one found out Hansen and I were sharing a room. Yet.
Once outside, I strolled along the whitewashed walkway leading to the beach lined with cream-colored lounge chairs nestled in the sparkly sand. Very few patrons were out on the beach chairs. Some wore their hotel robes to see the sunrise, and others had to-go coffee cups in their hands—it was early, after all. None of them appeared to have a care in the world.
The sand beckoned me. I wanted to dip my feet in and feel the grains between my toes. With such ease—and relief—I took off my nude flats and let myself sink in. For just one moment, I imagined I was on vacation, and not trying to save my failing company by snagging Graham Morgan’s business.
I took a lounge chair next to where I stood, and strode through the sand, leaving footprints. Marveling at the scenery, I tossed my shoes on the lounge chair and sat, my bag on my lap. A surprisingly cool breeze circled me, whipping my hair across my face, giving me respite from the warm, humid air. I decided to pull my hair back into a ponytail before I video-conferenced Mia.
Mia answered almost immediately once I’d dialed in. Her face appeared in the frame, her sparkly headphones hugging her bobbed platinum hair.
“Luci Luce!” Her enthusiasm was incredible this early. She even wore bright violet lipstick to punctuate her excitement.
“Well, look at you.” My heart warmed. I missed her, and our usual morning walk in Central Park. “How’s everything back at the command center?”
“Same as when you left it.” She laughed and glanced off screen somewhere. “I’m so excited about NuvaTech!”
“Same.” I shielded my eyes from the morning sun that appeared bright overhead.
“I can’t believe they bit. Now I need to go over the slide deck pitch.”
Honestly, I couldn’t believe they were interested either. We had one mid-level client, and a handful of smaller accounts. We needed a major client, like NuvaTech and Morgan Financial Holdings, to stay afloat. If not, I’d have to sell interests to investors, or worse, stop operations altogether.
“The CEO, Calista Everette, is here as a panelist,” I said, my gaze moving past the screen to a person running from afar. Was that…Hansen? I blinked, setting my eyes back on Mia, a thrum vibrating through my body at the prospect of seeing him, which was odd because I’d just left his half-naked, sleeping body on the floor in the hotel we were sharing.
“She’s amazing. And va-va-va-voom!” Mia shook her head. I thought Mia might have had a lady crush on Calista. She continued, “Barely forty years old and already a CEO of a multi-billion-dollar biotech company. How does she do it and still look absolutely gorgeous?”
“I have no idea…” My gaze wandered again back to the man—the very bare-chested man—running down the beach toward me. Was it? Yes it was.
Hansen.
Every cord of muscle popped with his long, powerful strides.
“Luce!” Mia’s voice thundered through the speaker, jolting my attention back to her.
“I’m sorry…what was that?” I met her narrowed eyes, intense on me. All the while, Hansen advanced toward me at a slower pace.
“What’s wrong with you?” Mia said.
My gaze was on Hansen though, watching him stride from many feet away to just inches. A salacious grin curled his sinful mouth.
“Hey. Good morning.” His breath was normal, not of someone who only moments ago had been sprinting.